By Mike Gambino

There are many reasons to choose Landscape Lighting, some of which has been previously covered on this blog.  First, it adds safety to the building or home. Outdoor lighting specifically provides safety for steps when walking around elevated properties. Spread lights around pool decks may define the pathway while making the pathway clear of any obstacles that may be otherwise invisible at night.

Outdoor lighting adds time outdoors by providing advantages to your Landscape investment when you choose to stay longer outdoors to relax. Outdoor lights such as patio lights, path lights and garden lights are few examples of exterior lights that create calmness and relaxation.

Outside lighting brings security against burglars because it gives an impression that someone is home. The Landscape lighting system like garden lighting, patio lighting and path lighting functions as your house guard especially when you are out of town. Moreover, for this purpose, low voltage lighting is highly recommended because it is most economical and safe to operate.

Decorative lighting signifies pride and provides beauty to homes and offices. Decorative lighting for Residential Outdoor Lighting and Commercial Outdoor lighting provide the aesthetic effects at night. Simply put, outdoor lighting creates mood and safety of the surrounding as it brings out the beauty of the property.

Landscape Lighting should be low voltage lighting for several good reasons.

Low voltage lights are safe particularly around water features like the deck lights around pools or inside the fountains or water features that are featured in better landscapes.

Low Voltage outdoor lighting is energy-efficient since it produces more light for every watt consumed.

Low voltage outdoor lights have less potential to damage root systems because conduit that houses cable is buried to a 6” depth as opposed to 18” for high voltage lighting.

Low voltage fixtures that are small and concealable can easily fit within the landscape.

Landscape lighting that uses low voltage light fixtures are more accurate when aimed towards lighting subjects.

Outdoor lighting fixtures are flexible for positioning and offer freedom to move and relocate especially when landscape matures. Indeed, Landscape Lighting is truly cost effective to operate particularly when using Low voltage LED outdoor lighting fixtures.

LED low voltage Garden lights such as Gambino professional low voltage landscape lighting fixtures, are among the popular types of lighting we sell today. LED accent lights give off a soft glow to accentuate whatever they are aimed at.

Before deciding between LED or halogen low voltage garden lighting, consider the operation time of the system. Dusk to dawn operation lends itself to faster return on investment regarding electrical savings over the initially higher cost for the LED lighting system.

Another factor to consider in choosing LED or halogen low voltage outdoor lighting for Landscape Lighting is the type of bulb used. For two major reasons, LED lights are recommended. First, LED lights emit the brightest light per wattage used. Second, the light it gives off is the most efficient among the types of bulbs. Most accent lights should be off white/ amber lights because it produces softer glow and is most flattering for use in landscape lighting situations. Therefore warm white LED is the choice over cool white LED lamps.

The last factor to consider in lights for Landscape Lighting are their effectiveness with your outdoor lighting theme. If you have large trees then halogen will probably be the way to go so don’t rule out the use of halogen lamps when higher powered, higher brightness lamps are needed to do the job.

This landscape lighting blog is published by Mike Gambino of Gambino landscape lighting inc. all rights reserved. Mike is a professional landscape lighting system designer/ builder and has been designing, installing and maintaining landscape lighting systems for more than 20 years. Mike resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife and 2 sons. To visit his website go to www.Gambinolighting.com . To inquire about hiring Mike please click here .

Blog articles may be published with permission on other websites without editing or removing links.

By Mike Gambino

Over time a lighting system is only as good as the materials that they are constructed of and if you live within three miles of a brackish or salt water environment than you know what happens to outdoor products of any kind.  Living in coastal California areas will teach you this valuable lesson.  Outdoor light fixtures take a beating when installed in these areas that is why it is important do find the right light fixtures for the right areas. Even if you don’t live near the coast using landscape lighting fixtures made from materials that will last is paramount unless of course you don’t want the lighting system components to last.

What Some Outdoor Light Fixtures are made of

Outdoor light fixtures are made up of different materials and different qualities of those materials.

Below are examples of the main materials used in outdoor lighting fixtures

Spun Aluminum casts are made of pot metal or recycled aluminum that usually have reminisces or contaminants in the cast. These impurities in the aluminum cast make the fixture break down faster especially if in coastal areas.  Usually found in cheaper outdoor light fixtures.  Life expectancy is 4 months to 1 year.

• True aluminum casts are made with raw aluminum with no supplemental materials in the cast.  This is still not the best product for coastal or outdoor areas but  will last longer than spun aluminum fixtures  especially when there is an added textural powder coat finish added.  Life expectancy of non-textured is 1.5 years to 3 years.  Heavy-textured or marine coated is 3.5 years to 7 years.
• PVC and Composites are made from recycled plastic products that are melted down and poured into molds. These products are not desirable for outdoor lighting fixtures because they dry out and become brittle from exposure to the UV rays of the sun. This leaves them susceptible to breaking, cracking and expansion and contraction during heating and cooling which allows water ingress and intrusion into the fixture body that houses the lamp.

What Gambino Landscape Lighting fixtures are constructed of

• Solid Brass Castings of outdoor light fixtures stand up well to salt corrosive environments.  The raw solid brass material will patina with age but must be rinsed to control salt build up. Solid brass outdoor fixtures can come in different finishes like bronze and brushed nickel made by creating a chemical reaction. Beware of cheaper plated brass which is a coating over metal which will come off and not last outdoors. Life expectancy of solid brass is lifetime with scheduled maintenance.
• Solid Copper outdoor fixtures are made of raw copper and will last in salt corrosive environments.  Solid copper light fixtures patina very well with age, better than any of the other affordable raw materials.  These outdoor fixtures should still be rinsed frequently. Beware of the copper plated aluminum outdoor fixtures as they will not last.  Life expectancy is lifetime on copper with scheduled maintenance.
  

  Mike Gambino in February 2012 cleaning a first generation copper Gambino "Torino" spreadlight fixture that was installed 30 feet from the Pacific ocean in 2004. One of the most brutal environments possible. Besides some bird droppings on its cap the entire fixture is in excellent condition with no signs of degrading.

• Stainless steel is used in transformer enclosure construction because it is a very hard metal that is impervious to the elements. Even so the surface should be cleaned of impurities on a regular basis. Beware of product that may be built of stainless steel but the hardware used to keep all the parts connected together is not which will pit rust and leave your box to fall apart.

Outdoor Light Fixture Maintenance

All outdoor light fixtures need to be maintained and cleaned to preserve the life of the product.  Imaging if you never washed your car how it would look in two years especially if you lived beachside.  If you plan on installing outdoor light fixtures in a salt corrosive area then you want to make sure you can rinse the fixture with fresh water at least once a month.  Rinsing the lighting fixture will remove salt build up, if you cannot rinse the fixture use a damp cloth to remove excess salt build up.

Another main concern with outdoor fixtures is bird droppings.  Bird droppings contain an acidic component that will break down the paint finish if not rinsed off with fresh water.

Aged Outdoor Light Fixtures

Top of a copper Gambino generation 2 "Torino" spreadlight after less than 1 year in the landscape. Some interesting patina has formed which will only become enhanced by mother nature with age.

As you can see the clear winners are materials constructed from Brass, copper and stainless steel outdoor light fixtures and components.

Even fixtures made of these quality metals that have had factory hand applied stain finishes will change in color and appearance over time. I call it mother natures way of putting her personal touches on it.

This landscape lighting blog is published by Mike Gambino of Gambino landscape lighting inc. all rights reserved. Mike is a professional landscape lighting system designer/ builder and has been designing, installing and maintaining landscape lighting systems for more than 20 years. Mike resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife and 2 sons. To visit his website go to www.Gambinolighting.com . To inquire about hiring Mike please click here .

Blog articles may be published with permission on other websites without editing or removing links.

By Mike Gambino

Selling a home is difficult right now, I don’t need to tell you that. The value of houses is lower and there is a lot of competition in the marketplace. However, it is possible to make your home appealing enough to find a buyer. Paying attention to your home’s landscape lighting is important for setting your house apart from the rest of the crowd and increasing the likelihood of a sale.

Why Lighting Matters

Does changing the lighting of a home really make a difference to buyers? Yes. Light has the power to flatter a space or make it unattractive. The right lighting can have a major impact on the aesthetic appeal of the home. A dark home looks dingy and unappealing. A home with glaring lighting feels harsh. A space with the right amount of accent lighting and ambient lighting is warm and inviting, something that buyers are definitely looking for. The right landscape lighting fixtures can also enhance the design of the home, making it more elegant or more contemporary.

Tips for Improving Existing Lighting

The first thing that you should do is to look at the lights outside the home that you want to keep. There are things that you can do to improve existing lights outside the home to make the house more interesting for buyers. Top tips include:

• Make sure the landscaping is right for your lighting. You may have great ambient lighting but if your plants and trees are overgrown and in need of pruning then the light will get absorbed and the property will seem dark. Have the landscaping professionally pruned and detailed to enhance the value of your existing lighting.
• Turn on the outdoor lighting at night when showing the home. Your existing lighting is important, there’s nothing better than a beautifully illuminated landscape. Make sure that you let it showcase as much of it as possible when showing off the home to potential buyers.
• Clean all of your light fixtures and lenses. This allows the brightness of the lights to shine through and also makes the fixtures themselves more appealing. What a great cheap way to make it more likely that your home will sell quickly.
• Check that all of the lights are working properly. A big mistake that homeowners’ make is that they forget the little details. A buyer who walks around a property after dark only to find that some fixtures don’t work is immediately turned off.
• Listen to your lighting system. If a transformer is making a humming noise then they need to be serviced or replaced to increase the likelihood of not turning off a buyer and creating an obstacle to a sale.

Tips for Adding New Lighting

There will be some areas where you want to add new lighting to enhance the value of the home. Here are some tips for adding that important lighting:

• Start with the front yard. Curb appeal is the most important part of getting a home to sell. Make sure that your home’s exterior is well lit with quality landscape lighting fixtures.
• Replace outdated lantern style light fixtures. If you walk into a yard and the first thing that you see is an out-of-date light fixture then you’re going to look at the rest of the space with a bad taste in your mouth. Invest in upgrading the main light fixtures that get attention outside the home during daylight hours. Rusting and broken fixtures need replacing.
• Replace light bulbs with fresh high quality constant color lamps not the cheap offshore stuff at your local home improvement store. Landscape lighting is terrific when you’re actually living in a space. However, when you’re looking at whole property to see if you want to live there, you need great ambient lighting. Many visible fixtures look like clutter to potential homebuyers and the wrong style of fixture can turn off buyers who would otherwise be interested in the home. Conceal fixtures so you see the effect and not the source in order to avoid this problem.
• Update the lighting fixtures on the patio. This is one area where the task lighting is important. You should make sure that there’s adequate lighting for tables and BBQ grills. The fixtures should be in keeping with the style of the home. An impressive back yard patio can help clinch the sale of a home and lighting helps with that.
• Retrofit LED lighting bulbs.This is a great little touch that appeals greatly to buyers, making it noticeable that you’ve really put some effort into making the house convenient and comfortable for them.

Have your landscape lighting specialist walk through your property to recommend lighting updates. They can provide you with an outside perspective as to whether any additional lighting changes should be made to make the home more appealing to buyers.

This landscape lighting blog is published by Mike Gambino of Gambino landscape lighting inc. all rights reserved. Mike is a professional landscape lighting system designer/ builder and has been designing, installing and maintaining landscape lighting systems for more than 20 years. Mike resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife and 2 sons. To visit his website go to www.Gambinolighting.com . To inquire about hiring Mike please click here .

Blog articles may be published with permission on other websites without editing or removing links.

By Mike Gambino

Building a custom landscape lighting system in Los Angeles means you first must find a custom landscape lighting system builder.  Let’s be honest about how builders, and many companies around the country, promote themselves.  It has been popular in marketing for businesses to boast about themselves.  It’s been popular for salesmen in key industries to boast about themselves, too.  “I’m the top producer in my area,” or “We have more awards than any builder.”

When someone says something akin to, “I’m the greatest,” it reminds me of Muhamed Ali.  That was his phrase, and most of us can see him saying it in our mind’s eye as he danced to and from the ring.  That cocky statement worked for Ali, not only because of his personality, but mostly because he really was the greatest.

But when a salesman or a lighting system builder brags in all their promotions about being the greatest, it just doesn’t work for most people.  First, who can say a builder actually is the greatest?  We knew when Ali knocked out his opponent, but how do we know about builders?

Second, and more importantly, and most people probably don’t know this, anyone can get certificates and “awards” issued from companies that specialize in issuing certificates and awards (FOR A FEE).  In other words, if you pay for a seminar, you will get a certificate you can frame and place on the wall.  But it doesn’t end there.  You can then mention that certificate or award in your advertisements.

Let’s take it to the next level.  There are national associations which will issue certificates and awards, provided you pay for the courses and provided you can complete applications to receive awards.  Not everyone will bother with these kinds of little gimmicks, so that makes it easier for those who do take the time and money to “win” such awards.  You see, you “win” if you play and pay.

What is the real key to a landscape lighting system builder’s competence and professionalism?  Listen to their clients.  The level of customer satisfaction is the real answer.  But there’s a trap here, too, for the unwary customer looking to select a builder.

There’s a game called “Highest Customer Satisfaction.”  Anyone can say, “We’re number 1,” or “We have the highest customer satisfaction,”  but most of the time that is just self aggrandizing promotion.  You can vote yourself number 1, and you can pay an association to vote you number 1.  In the building business, any builder can get some clients to write happy testimonials.

I don’t play the games.  I build, what is arguably the finest landscape lighting systems, in the Los Angeles area.  I don’t go to seminars to get awards. I build high performance landscape lighting systems designed to last.  That’s what I do.

Not all lighting system builders are the same.  Not even close.  Choose your builder because he is an outstanding builder, not because he has awards on his wall issued by associations.

This landscape lighting blog is published by Mike Gambino of Gambino landscape lighting inc. all rights reserved. Mike is a professional landscape lighting system designer/ builder and has been designing, installing and maintaining landscape lighting systems for more than 20 years. Mike resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife and 2 sons. To visit his website go to www.Gambinolighting.com . To inquire about hiring Mike please click here .

Blog articles may be published with permission on other websites without editing or removing links.

By Mike Gambino

I am proud to say that I knew Bill Locklin and at one time we were so close that he used to call me his son. I began my career in the early 90′s using his system and lighting products. Bill Locklin invented low voltage landscape and Garden lighting in the 1950′s. He has mentored or taught and is either directly or indirectly responsible for most of the better landscape lighting contractors who are practicing today.

Much of my success is attributed to the teachings and philosophies that I learned from Bill Locklin which include:

Safety Security Beauty (in that order)

See the effect and not the source

The lamp does the lighting not the fixture

Always discover the reason a client wants lighting or Why Light?

People will expect lighting to be expensive-don’t disappoint them.

Bill passed away in December of 2007.  Below is his obituary from his local Redlands California newspaper. I have also copied an article from Electrical contractor magazine about Bill.

WILLIAM J. “BILL” LOCKLIN, A longtime Redlands resident, passed away at his home Monday. He was 86. Mr. Locklin was a Redlands orange grower; the inventor and “father” of 12 volt outdoor lighting; and the founder and president of Redlands based Nightscaping Manufacturing business, as well as co -owner of Redland’s El Camino horse ranch. Mr. Locklin was born in 1921 in Alhambra, CA and was raised as an orphan in Lucerne, CA before moving to Colton, CA to attend high school. Bill served as a chief electrician aboard the Navy USS Trepang submarine during World War II, earning the Bronze Star for action in the Pacific. He returned from the war, and was a member of the Colton, CA City Council for several years. He settled in Redlands in 1953, and established Locklin Electric, serving the local communi ty’s interior electrical needs, and doing favors for customers who wanted lighting to show off their landscaping. His first exterior lighting job was at a Palm Springs church, preparing to welcome Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower to a service. The Nightscaping trademark was registered June 2, 1964. In the Christmas season of 1964 Nightscaping was used to decorate the White House outdoor tree, and later President and Mrs. Nixon used Nightscaping in the landscaping of their “Western White House” in San Clemente, C A. During the 1950′s and 1960′s Bill also ran the lighting for the Redlands Bowl productions every Tuesday and Friday nights during the summers. Then in 1987, Bill was again in Washington, DC where he lit the pathways in the park around the White House Christmas Tree. He was honored to be selected to light the traveling Viet Nam Wall when it was at the Riverside National Cemetery; and more recently lit the same wall when it came to the Sylvan Park in Redlands. Bill was an entrepreneur in every sense of the word. He designed lighting plans for homes and busineses all over the world, and always gave great consideration to pleasing the owner, often designing a new fixture to meet their needs.

Electrical Contractor Magazine Published: February 2002

Ask most landscape lighting contractors about low voltage and you’re likely to get a shrug—unless you talk to the growing number of low-voltage specialists who are learning just how lucrative the jobs are. Bill Locklin, president of Nightscaping, a manufacturer in Redlands, Calif., said this work is hands-down the most profitable.

Locklin, who could be considered the father of low voltage lighting and has been in this field for 40 years, has watched the industry change and upgrade. He commented, “Ten years ago, who ever heard of solid-brass fixtures [or any of the 100-plus lamps that fit 12 volts]?” General Electric is at work on light sources that move away from traditional incandescents into other sources.

Locklin was part of the birth of low-voltage lighting when he took on a job in the 1950s to illuminate a public address space for then-president Dwight Eisenhower. Locklin used tin cans, jars, and other scavenged items for special lightscaping effects. For safety, he turned to low-voltage products. Since then, low-voltage lighting has become an increasing presence in residential and commercial outdoor lighting.

What keeps the average contractor away from low-voltage jobs? The answer may be image. When some people think of low voltage, they think of toy lighting that’s not serious work or serious money. After all, The Home Depot offers kits that make it easy enough for homeowners to string their own lighting.

But that’s a far cry from the sophisticated consumers who are demanding creativity, aesthetics, and energy savings. Low voltage is not only lucrative, since there’s so little competition, but the training to install it is readily available.

For those interested in this growing area, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Regulatory codes are making it easier to map out how you set up low-voltage lighting. The National Electrical Code’s (NEC’s) Article 411 deals with low-voltage systems and provides contractors with direction to ensure that what they set up is Code-compliant.

The article, which originated in 1996, provides the installation requirements for low-voltage lighting listed as a complete system. Article 411 covers any power supply that operates at 30 volts or less with a maximum peak available voltage under any load condition of 42.4 volts. The power source can consist of one or more secondary circuits, but each circuit can not exceed 25 amperes.

An isolating transformer must be used for secondary circuits to insulate them from the primary of the power supply (branch circuit). A branch circuit larger than 20 amperes cannot supply the primary of the isolation transformer. When using a 120-volt primary with a 30-volt secondary, the ratio of the transformer would be 4:1.

Each secondary circuit cannot exceed 25 amperes, so additional secondary protection must be installed. This is versatile stuff. Three 20-ampere circuits, four 15-ampere circuits, or any other combination could be used as secondary circuits to supply low-voltage lighting fixtures.

Other specifications need to be considered, too. Most still don’t think of burial depth with respect to regulations and low voltage. In fact “scratching away with your foot,” as a Code expert pointed out, is not good enough when planning the burial of low-voltage lines. But the requirements are spelled out clearly if you look in the right place. Column Five of Table 300 deals specifically with requirements that can go to 24 inches of depth for alleys, driveways, and parking lots, while other residential sites can be 18 or as little as 6 inches, unless under a building.

Voltage drop on a low-voltage system is critical in permitting the lighting system to operate properly. Therefore, conductor size plays an important role.

The total area to be covered and the size and number of lights on the low-voltage system may require a larger system than permitted for the low-voltage lighting systems covered by Article 411. Individually Listed low-voltage components could still be assembled to cover a large low-voltage lighting system, but would not be covered by Article 411.

Energy saving is one of the most desirable benefits of low-voltage lighting. Compact fluorescent products require less power than incandescent ones. For commercial work, electronic ballasts are a good option in linear or compact fluorescent lamp units. The most energy-efficient light sources available so far are still high-pressure sodium (HPS) or metal halide products. Electronic ballasts have a much lower noise level and there is no visible lamp flicker.

Low-voltage lighting offers a wide variety of beam spreads and easy control over the shape of the light pattern.

For these energy savings and aesthetic options, customers are likely to continue seeking more low voltage as opposed to line voltage and the low-voltage experts are poised to reap the benefits.

This landscape lighting blog is published by Mike Gambino of Gambino landscape lighting inc. all rights reserved. Mike is a professional landscape lighting system designer/ builder and has been designing, installing and maintaining landscape lighting systems for more than 20 years. Mike resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife and 2 sons. To visit his website go to www.Gambinolighting.com . To inquire about hiring Mike please click here .

Blog articles may be published with permission on other websites without editing or removing links.

by Mike Gambino

I installed this Gambino landscape lighting system originally in 2005 with halogen lamps for the property owners. In 2008 it was expanded by adding several new fixtures and by moving and repositioning existing ones to compensate for growth of plant materials and changes to landscaping since the original installation . Now in 2012 we have upgraded the system by retrofitting all of the existing fixtures from halogen to LED lamps .

The clients are very satisfied with the results.  They went from a halogen low voltage lighting system that required 1200 watts of power to operate to an LED low voltage lighting  system which operates on less than 150 watts of power without sacrificing light output performance or color rendition. Below are a few photos of the new LED upgrade.

This landscape lighting blog is published by Mike Gambino of Gambino landscape lighting inc. all rights reserved. Mike is a professional landscape lighting system designer/ builder and has been designing, installing and maintaining landscape lighting systems for more than 20 years. Mike resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife and 2 sons. To visit his website go to www.Gambinolighting.com . To inquire about hiring Mike please click here .

Blog articles may be published with permission on other websites without editing or removing links.